Safety-relevant experience reshapes neural codes for ambiguous threat in adolescents

Adolescence is marked by the ongoing maturation of neural circuits supporting flexible contextual processing, which may shape how safety experience alters threat representations. The current study created a safety-relevant context in which visually threatening stimuli (animals, weapons) acquired meanings in relation to personal safety, with animals signaling danger and weapons conferring protection.

Using 7T fMRI, we measured neural responses in 33 adolescents (MAge = 14.88 years, 19 females) during passive viewing before (Pre-task) and after (Post-task) the safety experience. At Post-task, protection stimuli elicited greater activation in the hippocampus, precuneus, and insula, reflecting experience-dependent safety updating. Threat stimuli showed more restricted changes in the precuneus, suggesting persistence of initial threat representations.